CUHK
News Centre

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK)’s Faculty of Science and the Joseph Needham Foundation for Science & Civilisation (JNFSC) are pleased to announce that Mr. Jack Yat-long Kwok, a fresh graduate from the Department of Physics, has been selected for the 2022 Joseph Needham PhD Fellowship Tenable at the University of Cambridge. Jack is the first student to be awarded this PhD Fellowship after the re-launch of the fellowship. He will study for a doctorate in Applied Mathematics and Theoretical Physics at the University of Cambridge starting in autumn 2022.

The JNFSC welcomes high-calibre students in STEM who have demonstrated exceptional scholarship, empathy and humility to join the Needham Scholarly community through its PhD Fellowship and Merit Scholarship programmes. Students from multiple universities in Hong Kong have been invited to apply.

The Darwin College at the University of Cambridge welcomes outstanding STEM talents from Hong Kong like Jack to join its community. “We warmly congratulate Jack Kwok on being awarded the prestigious 2022 Joseph Needham PhD Fellowship, and look forward to having such a talented scholar among our College Fellows. I am sure his time with us here in Cambridge will be fruitful and mutually beneficial, and will help to empower him to contribute to his alma mater, following in the footsteps of the first Joseph Needham Fellow Professor Jianjun Mei, currently the Director of the Needham Research Institute,” said Dr. Mike Rands, Master, Darwin College.

Professor Chunshan Song, Dean of Science at CUHK, expressed his gratitude to JNFSC. “We are honoured to receive JNFSC’s invitation to participate in this renowned and competitive programme. I would like to congratulate Mr. Jack Kwok and am gratified to see one of our students being awarded the Joseph Needham PhD Fellowship to study towards a PhD at Cambridge and carry on the legacy of the late Dr. Joseph Needham. His pioneering spirit will continue to inspire our students.”

Dr. Peter L. Lee, Chairman of the JNFSC, said, “The Board of JNFSC is incredibly proud to support the second Joseph Needham PhD Fellowship at Cambridge after almost 30 years. We are absolutely confident that Jack Kwok will deliver not only scholarly excellence, but will be an integral part of the future Needham Scholar community, embracing humility and empathy, as well as fulfilling Joseph Needham’s dream of a world class centre of excellence in Hong Kong. The JNFSC is equally proud to partner with Darwin College and the three participating universities in Hong Kong to identify the best scholarly talents”.

The JNFSC was founded in honour of the late Dr. Joseph Needham to promote his scholarly legacy in Hong Kong and beyond. Dr. Needham started his career as a biochemist at the University of Cambridge. The great scientist later became deeply interested in the history of science and technology, particularly in ancient China. This passion also drove him to learn the Chinese language and brought him to the country. During his years in China, he devoted himself to exchange with fellow scientists and scholars, which later contributed to his monumental multi-volume publication “Science and Civilisation in China”.